The catch with Toptal
You pay for time for as long as the work runs, plus $79 a month. If you later want the person on your payroll, the FAQ says terms are agreed case by case, and no fee is published.
Toptal alternative
A Toptal alternative for a full-time hire
The short answer: Toptal matches you with freelance experts, including marketing experts. You pay for their time, plus a $79 monthly subscription once you go ahead with matching. SuperHired headhunts a salaried hire for your team, for a flat fee set by the role, from $7,500.
Pick Toptal when you need expert hours you can scale up or down. Pick SuperHired when the person should join your payroll.
Freelance time or a salaried hire, side by side.
Toptal lines come from its own public pages, checked November 2026. Each one links to its source.
| Compare | SuperHired | Toptal |
|---|---|---|
| What you get | A salaried hire for your team, headhunted for the role. | A freelancer who works with your team, hourly, part-time or full-time (marketing page). |
| How you pay | One flat fee, set by the role. 30% at signing, 70% when an offer is accepted. | $79 a month once you go ahead with matching, plus the freelancer’s time (FAQ). |
| Published price | $7,500 standard search. $10,000 to $15,000 specialist or technical. $15,000 to $25,000 executive. | No rate card. Cost depends on location, the project, seniority and the engagement (marketing page). |
| Trial or guarantee | 120-day replacement guarantee, under the service terms. We explain them before you commit. | A trial of up to two weeks. If you are not satisfied, you are not billed (FAQ). |
| Onto your payroll | That is the service. | “For the most part, yes,” on terms agreed with you. No fee is published (FAQ). |
Who each one suits.
Pick Toptal if
- You need a freelance expert for a project or a set number of hours.
- You want to scale help up or down without making a hire.
- You want a trial of up to two weeks before you pay for the time.
Pick SuperHired if
- You are hiring a marketing or go-to-market role at an agency or an in-house team.
- You want the fee fixed before the search starts, whatever the salary.
- You want a 120-day replacement guarantee written into the service terms.
The catch with SuperHired
You pay 30% at signing, before you meet candidates. We focus on marketing and go-to-market roles, and our searches are for salaried hires, not freelance or contract hours.
The details, with sources.
SuperHired
SuperHired headhunts marketing and go-to-market people for agencies and in-house teams. Agencies are our core. Each search runs in six stages: Discover, Define, Headhunt, Understand, Evaluate and Start Well. Our method explains each one.
The fee is set by the role, never by the salary. A standard search is $7,500. A specialist or technical search is $10,000 to $15,000, and an executive search is $15,000 to $25,000. You pay 30% at signing, which covers discovery and starts the agreed search, and 70% when an offer is accepted. Pricing has the details.
Each search includes a 120-day replacement guarantee under the service terms, and we explain those terms before you commit. Where a simulation can answer an important hiring question, finalists do a paid exercise built around the real work.
Toptal
Its homepage describes a network of freelance AI experts, software developers, designers, marketing experts, management consultants, product managers and project managers. Its marketing page says you can hire marketing experts hourly, part-time or full-time, and scale up or down. Toptal can also run a project end to end through its consulting and services work.
Its how it works page says the freelancer joins your team the way an in-house employee working from home would, and that you won’t pay a flat project fee. The FAQ says a flat monthly subscription of $79 is charged if you go ahead with talent matching. You can cancel at any time and, if Toptal can’t provide talent, request a refund on cancellation.
The FAQ says each engagement starts with a trial of up to two weeks. If you are satisfied, Toptal bills you for the time. If you are not, you are not billed, and you can trial up to three people per position. Toptal typically invoices twice a month on Net 10 terms.
On hiring a Toptal worker into your company, the FAQ says “for the most part, yes,” with an arrangement agreed with you. It lists no fee for that, and no replacement period.
Where these facts come from.
Checked November 2026. Prices and terms change, so confirm them with each firm before you sign.
- Toptal homepage. The kinds of freelance talent in its network.
- Toptal, how it works. How a freelancer works with your team, and no flat project fee.
- Toptal, marketing experts. Hourly, part-time or full-time marketing help, and what the cost depends on.
- Toptal FAQ. The $79 subscription, the trial, invoicing and hiring a worker into your company.
- SuperHired pricing. Fees by role and the 120-day replacement guarantee.
- SuperHired, our method. The six stages, the 30% and 70% payments, and paid exercises.
Questions buyers ask.
Is SuperHired a Toptal alternative?
Yes, when you want a salaried hire rather than freelance hours. SuperHired headhunts marketing and go-to-market people for agencies and in-house teams, for a flat fee set by the role, from $7,500. Toptal matches you with freelancers and bills their time.
How much does Toptal cost?
Toptal’s FAQ lists a $79 monthly subscription once you go ahead with talent matching, and you also pay for the freelancer’s time. Its marketing page publishes no rate card and says cost depends on location, the project, seniority and the engagement.
Can I hire a Toptal freelancer full time?
Toptal’s marketing page says you can hire marketing experts full-time, which means full-time hours from a freelancer. On bringing someone into your company, the FAQ says “for the most part, yes,” on terms agreed with you, and it publishes no fee for that.
What does Toptal guarantee?
Toptal publishes a trial of up to two weeks. If you are not satisfied, you are not billed, and you can trial up to three people per position. The pages we checked list no replacement period. SuperHired includes a 120-day replacement guarantee under the service terms.
Your next hire
Bring one role.
We’ll tell you if a search fits.
We’ll talk through the role, how we would run the search and the fee. If freelance help or another firm suits you better, we’ll say so.